rabble.ca - budget 2018http://rabble.ca/tags/budget-2018
enAlberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci, a New Democrat, delivers a traditional Progressive Conservative budgethttp://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/alberta-diary/2018/03/alberta-finance-minister-joe-ceci-new-democrat-delivers
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">David J. Climenhaga</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-for-node field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://rabble.ca/sites/default/files/styles/large_story_850px/public/Ceci.JPG?itok=gC-lNGg0" width="1180" height="600" alt="Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci (Photo: David J. Climenhaga)." title="Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci (Photo: David J. Climenhaga)." /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Despite the predictably apocalyptic tone of Opposition political spokespeople and the unenthusiastic analysis by mainstream media commentators, if you ask me Finance Minister Joe Ceci delivered a traditional Progressive Conservative budget in the Alberta Legislature yesterday.</p>
<p>If this seems odd -- Ceci is a New Democrat, after all -- it's just the Alberta way. We elect new governments from time to time and, before we know it, they start to turn into PCs.</p>
<p>As has been said in this space before, the re-election of Premier Rachel Notley's NDP government would be a virtual certainty if it had a different name, one with "conservative" somewhere in it.</p>
<p>I don't know if NDP is a damaged brand in these parts, exactly, like that of the hapless Alberta Liberals. But the New Democratic Party does <em>have</em> a brand, and Alberta's Conservative Opposition has done its level best to exploit it effectively to paint everything the Notley government does as "risky," "ideological" and "socialist." This has gained some traction … at least among the commentariat.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Ceci's budget yesterday was a conservative political document in that classic Alberta way: enough of a pivot to "fiscal responsibility" to annoy the NDP's traditional die-hard supporters, a degree of austerity compassionate enough to be deemed insufficient by the perpetually angry conservative base, and a reliance on Alberta's traditional response to bad times in the oil patch, a fervent hope oil prices will go up again soon.</p>
<p>If the NDP has added a new twist, it's the suggestion things will get better <em>when the Trans Mountain Pipeline is completed</em> -- which the government insists is a sure thing and the Opposition prays will never happen on the NDP's watch.</p>
<p>One can argue with this proposition, but it's clever in that it suggests that with the NDP at the helm Alberta has a degree of control over its own fate without having to do the sensible thing and implement a sales tax. The Tories just used to pray to the Oil Gods to make the Saudi Arabians pump less of their high-quality crude. And how'd that ever work out?</p>
<p>The NDP government will probably be annoyed by this characterization. But then, the Usual Suspects on the right will be annoyed too by someone saying that if the finance minister's virtual new shoes were on the other foot, they'd do much the same thing at least as far as deficit and debt go. They'd certainly be meaner, though, given their ideological bent toward privatization, which in the long term would cost us more. But then, as what's happening south of the Medicine Line clearly illustrates, debt and deficits only matter to conservatives when they're <em>not </em>in power.</p>
<p>Ceci's speechwriter, meanwhile, pushed the fiscal responsibility theme hard. I counted the phrase "a path to balance" (as in, <em>we're on one</em>) five times in <a href="https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=546301592D97D-C580-8EBB-D241B70A057FE4A8" target="_blank">the minister's speech</a>. The official slogan chosen by the drafters was <em>"A Recovery Built to Last,"</em> a phrase clearly designed to push the same button.</p>
<p>As for the pivot to something not unadjacent to fiscal austerity, the NDP's historical supporters -- progressive activists, education and public health-care advocates, unions and commentators like the author of this blog -- will continue to scream for taxes that recognize the fiscal realities of running a modern Canadian province.</p>
<p>And as Ceci observed, with this year's provincial deficit now estimated downward at $8.8 billion, Albertans will still be paying $11.2 billion less in taxes than they would in any other province. So … <a href="http://daveberta.ca/2018/03/only-in-alberta-are-the-biggest-deficits-and-lowest-taxes-so-completely-irreconcilable/" target="_blank">the conclusion</a> will seem obvious to many.</p>
<p>But they can forget about it. Notley's government is having none of it. And in fairness to their point of view, the conventional wisdom in Alberta (true or not) is that implementing tax increases on that scale would be to commit political suicide.</p>
<p>Anyway, why bother when, as Ceci observed, the province despite its recent troubles not only "surpassed expectations," but "outperformed the rest of the country on a number of key economic metrics -- the highest per-capita GDP, the highest average weekly earnings, and the highest employment the in the country."</p>
<p>And that's <em>without</em> the promised pipeline and the fervently prayed-for oil price increase!</p>
<p>The Opposition is <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-budget-2018-reactions-1.4589249" target="_blank">left to argue</a> that the province's long-term debt amounts to the NDP breaking open the Seventh Seal, plus that we should be measuring deficits in <em>per capita</em> terms, not as a percentage of GDP. Well, OK. We know that matters to the media and their ilk.</p>
<p>So will this plan work for the NDP? Well, all the Usual Suspects on the right say no, unanimously and confidently. But notwithstanding the Opposition, the Astro-Turf groups that support them, pollsters that work for them, and the universally right-wing mainstream media in this province, a week is a long time in politics. And a whole year is an eternity.</p>
<p><em>This post also appears on David Climenhaga's blog, <a href="http://albertapolitics.ca/" target="_blank">AlbertaPolitics.ca</a>. </em></p>
<p><em>Photo: David J. Climenhaga</em></p>
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</div></div></div>Fri, 23 Mar 2018 06:36:50 +0000djclimenhaga143421 at http://rabble.cahttp://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/alberta-diary/2018/03/alberta-finance-minister-joe-ceci-new-democrat-delivers#commentsFive things to know about the 2018 federal budget and housinghttp://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/progressive-economics-forum/2018/03/five-things-know-about-2018-federal-budget-and
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Nick Falvo</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-for-node field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://rabble.ca/sites/default/files/styles/large_story_850px/public/16270282397_8fa1161a3e_k.jpg?itok=jquTbroY" width="1180" height="600" alt="Canadian quarter. Photo: KMR Photography/flickr" title="Canadian quarter. Photo: KMR Photography/flickr" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The 2018 federal budget, while not as transformative as last year's, had important new initiatives related to housing and homelessness.</p>
<p>Here are five things to know:</p>
<p><strong>1. New housing investments were announced for First Nations, Inuit and Métis people.</strong></p>
<p>Specifically, the budget announced $600 million over three years for on-reserve housing; $400 million over 10 years for housing in the Inuit regions of Nunavik, Nunatsiavut, and Inuvialuit; and $500 million over 10 years for housing for Métis people. In each case, this targeting funding is intended to accompany the respective federal housing strategies for each group, none of which have been released. From an urban perspective -- it's important to remember that, while Indigenous peoples make up just three per cent of Calgary's general population, they make up 20 per cent of Calgary's homeless population. Several other funding announcements were made for Indigenous peoples, valued at $5 billion over five years. This includes funding for child welfare services, employment and skills training, nursing services in designated First Nations communities, addictions treatment and prevention in First Nations communities, and funding to build administrative and fiscal capacity in First Nations communities.</p>
<p><strong>2. This budget announced the further expansion and rebranding of the Working Income Tax Benefit (WITB).</strong></p>
<p>This is a wage supplement for workers who have a fragile toehold in the labour force. Some readers will recall that the federal government provided a $250-million enhancement to the program in 2016 (to take effect in 2019) in an effort to offset CPP expansion. In the 2017 Fall Economic Statement, the Trudeau government further announced the enhancement of WITB by an additional $500 million annually. Today's budget announced that, beginning in 2019, this benefit will be known as the Canada Workers Benefit; it will also be more generous. For some workers, this will mean up to an additional $500 annually.</p>
<p><strong>3. The budget announced an increase in loans provided via the Rental Constructive Financing Initiative.</strong></p>
<p>Over the new three years, the amount of loans available will increase from $2.5 billion to $3.75 billion. According to the budget: "This new funding is intended to support projects that address the needs of modest- and middle-income households struggling in expensive housing markets" (p. 40). The impact of this initiative on homelessness will be indirect at best.</p>
<p><strong>4. Canada's official unemployment rate is now the lowest it's been in decades.</strong></p>
<p>Since November 2015, it's gone from 7.1 per cent to 5.9 per cent. This strong labour market performance is good for the respective bottom lines of federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments -- not only does it mean more tax revenue each year, it also means some social programs (e.g., social assistance) can be drawn on less.</p>
<p><strong>5. Canada's federal debt-to-GDP ratio remains (by far) the lowest of all G7 countries.</strong></p>
<p>While our federal government is projecting annual federal deficits in the $10-$20 billion range for at least the next five years, our federal debt-to-GDP ratio remains by far the lowest of all G7 countries. What's more, our federal government is projecting a further reduction in our federal debt-to-GDP from 30.4 per cent (2017-18) to 28.4 per cent by 2022-23. This favourable macroeconomic context makes it easier for the federal government to invest in important social programs.</p>
<p><strong>In Sum.</strong> From the vantage point of Canada's affordable housing and homelessness sectors, the good news in this budget is its important new funding announcements for First Nations, Inuit and Métis people. This investment was announced in a context of low unemployment and an improving macroeconomic context overall. Going forward, I look forward to seeing further details pertaining to the many important initiatives announced in last fall's National Housing Strategy.</p>
<p><em>Nick Falvo is Director of Research and Data at the Calgary Homeless Foundation. This blog was first posted on the <a href="http://calgaryhomeless.com/blog/five-things-know-2018-federal-budget/" target="_blank">Calgary Homelessness Foundation</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>Photo: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/morbokat/16270282397/in/photolist-qMKs7i-6CEP68-6YRZvf-Wdun6T-W8hcbG-4hqd2C-eSCoLm-x8gcR-koHC8D-q6Ufjj-4nSBL2-amF5Eo-k4FFA9-qMBmnm-oszX76-ay9PZS-S1j4WL-c8HHjW-cvXtxb-qMBEW5-4NbaJG-9K4qxd-boGyaZ-axB8Kp-4o75P9-cJZV6f-nRJitY-9GtpD3-bHu2vD-rhdPdu-qNfd79-ekJ1g5-nTLD2t-7yUWAD-8kwG8D-r3URGp-6auekW-knpvXz-WHyGxg-6KZom-66zjSP-3seGsW-cYUMtq-r4xVaT-dKkkcq-8mcVJz-r3vA6b-r6WFb2-r6wizm-jPmVuy" target="_blank">KMR Photography/flickr</a></em></p>
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</div></div></div>Tue, 06 Mar 2018 17:02:11 +0000Progressive Economics Forum142746 at http://rabble.cahttp://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/progressive-economics-forum/2018/03/five-things-know-about-2018-federal-budget-and#commentsTop disappointments of Budget 2018, by the numbershttp://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/brent-patterson/2018/02/top-disappointments-budget-2018-numbers
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Brent Patterson</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-for-node field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://rabble.ca/sites/default/files/styles/large_story_850px/public/20170322_pg_06.jpg?itok=NaFm3eRt" width="1180" height="600" alt="Finance Minister Bill Morneau. Photo: Adam Scotti/PMO" title="Finance Minister Bill Morneau. Photo: Adam Scotti/PMO" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The Council of Canadians had a first look at Budget 2018 tabled by Finance Minister Bill Morneau on February 27 and has these initial observations.</p>
<p><strong>1.</strong> <strong>$0 for pharmacare</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>"There's a pledge for a new national pharmacare program -- but the budget says nothing about what that might cost. Eric Hoskins, who resigned as Ontario's health minister Monday, was officially named today as the chair of a new council that will hold nationwide consultations on how to proceed with a national program." - CBC</p>
</blockquote>
<p>After years of study and clear evidence that pharmacare would both save lives and billions of dollars, we are disappointed that the government decided to pursue consultations rather than taking immediate action to implement pharmacare. The advisory council's report isn't expected until the spring of 2019, just prior to the October 2019 federal election.</p>
<p><strong>2.</strong> <strong>$0 for Trans-Pacific Partnership compensation</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>"[Ontario Finance Minister Charles] Sousa said he was disappointed there weren't more transition measures to help Ontario businesses affected by the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal with Asian nations." - Toronto Star</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We are opposed to the Trudeau government's so-called "comprehensive and progressive" Trans-Pacific Partnership, but are mindful that earlier this week the Ontario government requested the Trudeau government provide $1.26 billion for the province's auto sector and $1.4 billion for agricultural producers to offset harm done by the agreement.</p>
<p><strong>3.</strong> <strong>$6.8 million over six years for human rights ombudsperson</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>"The government said Tuesday the role would ultimately be funded through Public Services Canada's existing budget, but few details were immediately available. The budget documents said that the ombudsperson's office would receive $6.8 million over six years, including money for the previous 2017/2018 fiscal year." - National Observer</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We are deeply disappointed at the small amount of money allocated to this newly announced position that is to investigate allegations of abuse abroad by Canadian corporations. We had hoped that the position would be well-resourced both financially and with the necessary expertise and staff levels so as to be able to respond effectively and in a timely way to complaints.</p>
<p><strong>4.</strong> <strong>$75 million over five years for trade with China</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>"The Government proposes to provide up to $75 million over five years, starting in 2018–19, with $11.8 million per year thereafter, to Global Affairs Canada to establish a stronger Canadian diplomatic and trade support presence in China and Asia. This includes bolstering the number of Canadian diplomats and trade commissioners on the ground in China as well as new initiatives to promote Canada's trade with China and other Asian markets." - Budget 2018</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We take this as another signal the Trudeau government is committed to pursuing eventual Canada-China free trade agreement talks.</p>
<p><strong>5. $90.6 million over five years to address offshore tax evasion</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>"The federal government did attach a price tag to its plan for going after those who skip out on, or use offshore accounts to avoid paying taxes: $90.6 million over five years. Morneau said they expect to recover $5 in revenue for every dollar spent to 'crack down on tax cheats and offshore tax havens.'" - National Observer</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This appears to be a modest expenditure given Canadians for Tax Fairness estimates that federal and provincial governments lose $7.8 billion a year in tax revenue due to offshore tax evasion. The number could be as high as $20 billion a year in lost revenue.</p>
<p><strong>6. $172.6 million more over three years for clean drinking water</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>"The Trudeau government is also under pressure to fulfill a promise to end all water advisories in First Nations by 2021. The 2018 federal budget sets aside about $172.6 million in new funding for clean drinking water; most of the money is set to flow over the next two years. The bulk of this funding -- $102 million -- is slated for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, with $50 million earmarked for the following year. This comes in addition to $1.8 billion initially set aside in the 2016 budget for First Nations water infrastructure." - CBC</p>
</blockquote>
<p>An additional $57.5 million a year for three years is not sufficient funding to end boil water advisories in First Nations as promised in the last election.</p>
<p><strong>7. $600 million for the G7 summit</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>"Canadians will pay nearly $600 million for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to host the G7 summit in June, the bulk of which will be spread over budgets this year and next, and will be spread across a range of departments. The biggest chunk of change will be spent by the RCMP, with nearly $300 million budgeted for the national police force's role -- and overtime -- in keeping the world leaders secure." - Toronto Star</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is an outrageous sum for the two-day summit that will take place June 8-9. This money would be much better spent added on to the insufficient spending currently allocated for clean drinking water for First Nations across this country.</p>
<p><strong>8.</strong> <strong>$1.3 billion over five years for land, water and species at risk</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>"The new budget proposes $1.3 billion over five years to protect land, water, and species at risk." - National Observer</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is less funding than had been expected ($1.4 billion over three years) and we are concerned that the Trudeau government continues to endanger land, water and species at risk by championing the 890,000 barrel per day Kinder Morgan pipeline that crosses more than 1300 waterways to fill hundreds of tankers on the Pacific Ocean with bitumen each year and approving BP to conduct oil and gas exploration in the deep ocean waters off the coast of Nova Scotia.</p>
<p><strong>9.</strong> <strong>About $3.3 billion for fossil fuel subsidies</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>"The Paris target of holding global average temperature at no more than 1.5 degrees C above Industrial Revolution levels is a fundamental goal that should involve a whole-of-government approach. Yet Budget 2018 does not touch subsidies to fossil fuels in the oil patch and for fracked natural gas." - Green Party leader Elizabeth May</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While the government is spending $600 million on a two-day G7 summit, it has failed to meet its October 2015 election pledge to "fulfill our G20 commitment [made in September 2009] and phase out subsidies for the fossil fuel industry over the medium-term."</p>
<p>We will be providing more commentary in the coming days.</p>
<p>The NDP response to the budget is <a href="http://www.ndp.ca/news/timid-liberal-budget-will-continue-grow-income-inequality" target="_blank">here</a>, the Green Party's response is <a href="https://www.greenparty.ca/en/media-release/2018-02-27/green-party-laments-squandered-opportunities-2018-budget" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p><em>Photo: <a href="https://pm.gc.ca/eng/photos" target="_blank">Adam Scotti/PMO</a></em></p>
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</div></div></div>Wed, 28 Feb 2018 14:18:30 +0000Brent Patterson142496 at http://rabble.cahttp://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/brent-patterson/2018/02/top-disappointments-budget-2018-numbers#commentsStephen Mandel to lead Alberta Party; probably won't take Tory insider's advice to go 'ultra-left'http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/alberta-diary/2018/02/stephen-mandel-lead-alberta-party-probably-wont-take-tory
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">David J. Climenhaga</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-for-node field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://rabble.ca/sites/default/files/styles/large_story_850px/public/Mandel_0_0.JPG?itok=r3pL07Kl" width="1180" height="600" alt="Stephen Mandel (Photo: David J. Climenhaga)" title="Stephen Mandel (Photo: David J. Climenhaga)" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Ian Brodie -- chief of staff to Stephen Harper for a spell back in the bleak days the Conservatives ran the country -- had some advice for the Alberta Party yesterday, just hours before the party's members chose former Edmonton mayor Stephen Mandel as their leader.</p>
<p>To wit: If the Alberta Party wants to win seats in 2019 in what is bound to be a race between Premier Rachel Notley's New Democrats and Opposition Leader Jason Kenney's supposedly United Conservatives, they must "campaign against oil," as the headline writer of Brodie's opinion piece on the CBC website accurately summarized his argument.</p>
<p>Or, as Brodie himself tendentiously put it in the piece published hours before the Alberta Party announced Mandel's selection as leader, "if Notley continues her move to the centre on pipelines, there might be room for an ultra-left party in Alberta politics."</p>
<p>There's a sly suggestion here that the Alberta NDP is pretty far to the left too. This is nonsense, of course, as is becoming increasingly obvious to ever-larger numbers of Albertans.</p>
<p>What's more, being on one side or the other of the debate about whether the fossil fuel economy has a future is not really a right- or a left-wing thing, as I am sure Brodie, nowadays a University of Calgary professor, understands perfectly well. He is, after all, a bright, even erudite, guy, for all that he has served the wrong side of the economic policy argument in a variety of important roles.</p>
<p>The real point of the veteran Conservative political operator's piece, I would suggest, was to tempt the Alberta Party to take a position that will make it irrelevant in the 2019 Alberta election, thereby improving Kenney's chances of defeating the NDP.</p>
<p>Brodie, by the way, also proffered the same advice to the Alberta Liberals led by David Khan, giving the same reasons. But his main target was clearly the Alberta Party because it is more likely to drain more Red Tory votes from the UCP than Blue Dipper votes from the NDP. This is especially true with Mandel at the helm, as was expected well in advance of last night's coronation.</p>
<p>So this argument, coming from this well-placed Conservative source, suggests that notwithstanding the prevailing narrative to the contrary, the UCP and its Ottawa auxiliary over at the Conservative Party of Canada understand perfectly well that a successful Alberta Party under Mandel would principally threaten them.</p>
<p>It also suggests that they understand the NDP is much more competitive than the current media storyline makes it seem. That narrative, as we have all heard repeatedly, is that the Notley government's departure from office is only a matter of when the election is called, a notion Brodie understandably tries to reinforce in his CBC piece.</p>
<p>Being a smart guy, I'm sure Brodie also understands that Mandel is unlikely to take the bait. After all, at 72, Mandel wasn't born yesterday. Still, come the campaign, the new Alberta Party leader may try to sound just <em>a little</em> greener than the oil-soaked elite consensus at the Alberta Legislature nowadays.</p>
<p>I confess that, up to now, I've thought it pretty unlikely the Alberta Party could even get on the radar, no matter who its members chose as leader. Hitherto, the party has appealed to no one except media, professional pundits and a few people better described as political cultists than political activists.</p>
<p>The fact that a connected Conservative like Brodie is offering bad advice to the Alberta Party as it tries to transform itself into the new Progressive Conservatives suggests that the strategic minds behind the UCP don't want that to happen.</p>
<p>We shouldn't get too excited about this, though. Mandel won by an impressive 66 per cent … but it was only 66 per cent of an unimpressive 4,613 votes.</p>
<p>Do you remember the days when more than 130,000 Albertans signed up and turned out to choose Ed Stelmach as PC leader and premier in 2006? Or when it was considered a huge comedown that only a few more than 23,000 voted in the 2014 party election that chose the late Jim Prentice as leader after Alison Redford's catastrophic tenure?</p>
<p>Mandel is going to have to interest more than 4,613 Albertans to realize the dream of forming an Alberta Party government.</p>
<p>He won't do that, obviously, by declaring war on the oil industry.</p>
<p><strong>Pharmacare advisory committee a good step, but a tiny one</strong></p>
<p>The pharmacare advisory committee mentioned in the Trudeau government's budget yesterday is a positive step forward, but Canada is still a long, long way from having an actual national prescription drug plan.</p>
<p>So it's incumbent upon pharmacare's many supporters to keep the pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his ministers to actually implement a prescription drug plan like every other country in the industrialized West except the United States, which is disastrous when it comes to the way it organizes health care.</p>
<p>As <em>The Globe and Mail</em> correctly reported yesterday in its coverage of Finance Minister Bill Morneau's budget, "national pharmacare could represent significant savings for both patients and the government." These savings are variously estimated from about $5 billion to about $12 billion per year. Alberta alone would save more than $1 billion annually.</p>
<p>It would also, of course, save the lives of many Canadians who must now choose between paying the rent and feeding their children or getting the prescription drugs they require to survive.</p>
<p>A way to save $11 billion a year for taxpayers while ensuring all Canadians can have the pharmaceutical drugs they need if they are ill? A way to reinvest in health care and make a good system better? What's not to hate about that if you're a profit-drenched multinational pharmaceutical company, a huge insurance corporation, or an operative for a neoliberal advocacy group like the Fraser Institute or the Canadian Taxpayers Federation?</p>
<p>So count on it that the usual suspects will be lobbying furiously against a national pharmacare plan behind the scenes and in public. Given the Liberals' past <em>modus operandi</em>, there is a significant chance the party will lose interest in the plan after it wins next federal election.</p>
<p>If we are ever to have pharmacare in Canada, no matter whom we elect, we will have to keep our politicians' feet to the fire.</p>
<p><em>This post also appears on David Climenhaga's blog, <a href="http://albertapolitics.ca/" target="_blank">AlbertaPolitics.ca</a>. </em></p>
<p><em>Photo: David J. Climenhaga</em></p>
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</div></div></div>Wed, 28 Feb 2018 06:51:39 +0000djclimenhaga142466 at http://rabble.cahttp://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/alberta-diary/2018/02/stephen-mandel-lead-alberta-party-probably-wont-take-tory#commentsA gender budget needs meaningful changes to parental leave and pay equityhttp://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/progressive-economics-forum/2018/02/gender-budget-needs-meaningful-changes-parental
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Angella MacEwen</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-for-node field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://rabble.ca/sites/default/files/styles/large_story_850px/public/16290266517_420aef8d2a_k.jpg?itok=TTgrkwbt" width="1180" height="600" alt="Canadian money. Photo: KMR Photography/flickr" title="Canadian money. Photo: KMR Photography/flickr" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Budget 2018 is being advertised as a <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/gender-equality-budget-2018-1.4541358" target="_blank">truly comprehensive gender budget</a>, with two key pieces of that being use-it-or-lose-it paternity leave, and action on pay equity.</p>
<p>Last year's gender budget implemented the Liberal campaign promise to extend EI parental leave from a total of <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/3852880/new-parental-leave-benefits-heres-what-you-need-to-know/" target="_blank">12 months to 18 months</a>, despite the fact that the idea was universally panned by feminists, Canada's unions and business groups.</p>
<p>The problem? Other than the fact it doesn't recognize that the primary issue facing parents of young children is the need for a national child-care system, the plan didn't increase the total amount of funding, it simply extended the current allotment over a <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-maternity-parental/benefit-amount.html" target="_blank">longer period of time</a>. Instead of getting 55 per cent of your average earnings for 35 weeks of parental benefits, you can choose to get 33 per cent for 61 weeks. If you earn more than the maximum insurable earnings threshold of $51,700, the 35-week maximum benefit is $547/week, and the 61-week maximum benefit is $328/week. The main benefit for parents taking the 18-month leave would be the accompanying change in the duration of job-protected leave, and some parents might have collective agreement top-ups that make the 18-month leave more attractive (although that will likely change rather quickly).</p>
<p>On the whole, an excellent example of how<strong><em> </em></strong><em>not</em> to do gender budgeting.</p>
<p>So what should we be looking for to make sure that this year's changes to parental leave and pay equity will be meaningful?</p>
<p>Well, for any measure we should be looking for how it will affect differently located women -- women with disabilities, racialized women, women in rural areas, women with different levels of income … you get the idea.</p>
<p>For parental leave specifically, it is useful to look at <a href="http://www.rqap.gouv.qc.ca/a_propos_regime/information_generale/caracteristiques_en.asp" target="_blank">Quebec's program</a>. Andrea Doucet, Lindsey McKay, and Sophie Mathieu, <a href="http://childcarecanada.org/documents/research-policy-practice/16/05/parental-leave-rich-and-parental-leave-poor-inequality-cana" target="_blank">have found</a> that Quebec's QPIP does a better job of reaching low-income families. There are several features that contribute to this -- lower eligibility requirement ($2,000 of income vs. 600 hours of EI eligible employment), dedicated second-parent leave, and a higher <a href="http://www.rqap.gouv.qc.ca/includes/tableaux/tab_synthese_prestations_en.html" target="_blank">70 per cent replacement rate</a> for both the dedicated maternity leave and the dedicated second-parent leave, as well as the first seven weeks of parental leave. Any modification of Canada's parental leave program that only does part of this will likely fall short.</p>
<p>On pay equity, many stakeholders are expecting stand-alone legislation to implement proactive pay equity at the federal level. In the budget, we might see set-asides for what this could be expected to cost the federal government as an employer, as well as funding for independent Pay Equity Commission and Hearings Tribunal, and a commitment to funding to support workers' and advocacy groups' access to advice, information, training, and participation in the pay equity process.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.broadbentinstitute.ca/gender_budgets_good_data?recruiter_id=233084" target="_blank">Last year I asked</a> how it could be a gender budget without "higher minimum wages, better employment standards enforcement, proactive pay equity legislation, and affordable child care." Those are still the questions I'll be asking this year.</p>
<p><em>Photo: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/morbokat/16290266517/in/photolist-qPvSG6-r6RK7q-r6wizm-q9P38B-qPbnwR-qNfd79-q8Ng2m-r3vA6b-r2T3Q7-qMAiVs-qMKs7i-qMBEW5-r523sa-r5233c-qMBmnm-qMHqxx-r4xVaT-r2fzUf-r3URGp-qLtZq8-qLtXi2-r3UPm2-xKT39q-yqhJuN-yqhDQs-yqorA4-yEzQA3-yqhnd9-yEzHLm-yqhfhf-xL1HQz-yEzvno-yqnSiT-yFVuxY-xKS96C-yEyyBw-wDzrZ6-wTKkBj-wCu7yt-wCn1oA-vHaQYt-wtz9Ss-wca3P8-vUEA2r-wbvqZd-vUxpRQ-wczK2a-vf8WHb-wbvoZw-w9QLkA" target="_blank">KMR Photography/flickr</a></em></p>
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</div></div></div>Tue, 27 Feb 2018 22:06:51 +0000Progressive Economics Forum142411 at http://rabble.cahttp://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/progressive-economics-forum/2018/02/gender-budget-needs-meaningful-changes-parental#commentsHere's how the Trudeau government can make the 2018 budget a feminist onehttp://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/behind-numbers/2017/08/heres-how-trudeau-government-can-make-2018-budget-feminist-one
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Kate McInturff</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image-for-node field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://rabble.ca/sites/default/files/styles/large_story_850px/public/Funding-to-SWC-1-e1502390273518.png?itok=BQsjMpHQ" width="1180" height="600" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>It's that exciting time of year when economists wake from their summer slumber and start making submissions to the federal Finance Committee about what they'd like to see in Budget 2018. So what would a feminist budget look like? Here are few things I'd like to see under the budget tree this year.</p>
<p><strong>1) Invest in the sectors where women work</strong></p>
<p>Men and women tend to work in different jobs in Canada. Moving women into predominantly male employment sectors may pay off for women in the longer term, but the rate of change is slow. Like, generational. Worse yet, <a href="http://statisticalhorizons.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/88.2.levanon.pdf">research has shown</a> that as the share of women in a field increases, the value placed on that work diminishes.</p>
<p>That means Budget 2018 needs to invest in the sectors where women are working today. More than one out of every five women in the labour force works in health and social services. Not construction (12% women). Women work in jobs that accommodate their unpaid work (particularly childcare), thus nursing, teaching and service industry jobs continue to be among those where women are most likely to be employed. We need job stimulus for the entire labour force, not just 53% of it.</p>
<p><strong>2) Invest in a living wage</strong></p>
<p>The occupations in which women are most likely to work include some of the lowest-paying jobs in Canada.</p>
<p>For example, women in skilled trades are most likely to work in food service and cosmetology, while men are most likely to be plumbers and electricians. Apprenticeships for all these trades require equivalent levels education, experience and skill, yet the average full-time wage for a cook is just under $29,000 and for a hairstylist it is $22,000. Contrast this to the average full-time wage for a plumber, which is $55,000, or for an electrician, which is $60,000 annually.</p>
<p>The government has promised to spend $3 billion in home care in the next three years. While this will certainly create jobs in a predominantly female job sector, the median take-home pay for a home care worker ($18,942) falls below the Low-Income Measure. Instituting a living wage for home care workers would make a good start to ensuring that working women aren’t living in poverty.</p>
<p><strong>3) Supports for part-time workers</strong></p>
<p>Women are twice as likely as men to work part-time. The majority of those women (63%) are involuntary part-time workers. Half of those involuntary part-time workers cite childcare as the reason they are not in full-time work and half cite business conditions.</p>
<p>Affordable and available childcare has had a demonstrable positive effect on women’s employment levels and on the wage gap in similar high-income countries. However, long waiting lists and high fees are leaving 275,300 women in involuntary part-time work. As <a href="http://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2017/07/19/Women-Are-Key-for-Future-Growth-Evidence-from-Canada-45047">a recent study</a> points out, outside of Quebec, the cost of childcare means that net all tax and other benefits "the household’s economy clearly worsens if the mother enters the labor market."</p>
<p>The share of women who cite business conditions as the reason for part time work suggests that we are lacking both sufficient investment in the sectors where women work and that it is employers, not female workers, who need further incentives to lean in.</p>
<p><strong>4) Shift the balance of unpaid work</strong></p>
<p>Women perform 10 more hours of unpaid work per week than do men. They perform more total hours of work (paid and unpaid) than do men. (But who's counting?) The disproportionate share, particularly of childcare, limits the number of hours available to women to do paid work. It also makes it more difficult for women to enter occupations with non-traditional or inflexible hours. You know, like politics.</p>
<p>Affordable and accessible childcare is essential to shifting the balance of unpaid work for women. However, stand-alone paternity leave has also been demonstrated to play an important role in redistributing hours of unpaid work. The Quebec Parental Insurance Program, which provides 5 weeks of "father only" leave, has resulted in 78% of men now taking parental leave in Quebec, compared to 27% in the rest of Canada. Or maybe men in Quebec just love their children more? (I don't think so).</p>
<p><strong>5) Invest in women’s organizations</strong></p>
<p>It isn't just me; <a href="http://www.awid.org/publications/women-moving-mountains-collective-impact-dutch-mdg3-fund">research has demonstrated</a> that women’s organizations make an essential contribution to ensuring that public policy works for women. Yet federal funding to women’s organizations has actually decreased under the current government.</p>
<p>That direct federal funding of women’s organizations continues to represent a miniscule proportion of the budget -- less than one one-hundredth of one percent of total federal program spending.</p>
<p>I like to point this out every time I find myself sitting at a table in a Government of Canada building with a group of women's organizations offering (free) expertise and research. Consultation is great, if you have someone to consult with.</p>
<p><strong>6) The economy needs women</strong></p>
<p>Under-employing and underpaying women is costing women and the economy billions of dollars annually. The <a href="http://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2017/07/19/Women-Are-Key-for-Future-Growth-Evidence-from-Canada-45047">International Monetary Fund</a> estimates that if the employment gap between men and women were closed, our GDP could go up by 4%. If the 670,000 women who were working part-time for non-voluntary reasons in 2016 were able to find full-time work, they would have brought home an additional $19.2 billion in wages. If the women who worked full-time last year earned the same hourly wage that their full-time male counterparts earned, they would have taken home an additional $42 billion.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://behindthenumbers.ca/2017/03/22/budget-will-better-lives-women-canada/">2017 Federal Budget </a>gender statement was an important first step in making the most of both halves of Canada's labour force. However, core economic policies need to address the fact that men and women work in different occupations, at different rates of pay, for different numbers of hours. Moreover, targeted policies need to address the additional barriers that face Indigenous women, women with disabilities, immigrant and racialized women -- all of whom see larger than average gaps in pay and employment.</p>
<p>The women are out there. They are educated and in the labour force. Don’t make them the keepers of their own disadvantage. They don't create <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/21/sunday-review/women-ceos-glass-ceiling.html?smid=tw-share">hostile work environments</a>; they don't discount their own pay; they don't set <a href="http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/growing-concern">childcare fees</a>. Women need their governments and employers help in removing these barriers.</p>
<p>Time to start leaning in, gentlemen.</p>
<p><em><strong>Kate McInturff</strong> is a senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. You can follow Kate on Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/katemcinturff" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(11, 125, 168);" target="_blank">@katemcinturff</a>. </em></p>
<p><em>This article was originally published on the CCPA blog <a href="http://behindthenumbers.ca/2017/08/10/budget-2018-lean-in-gentlemen/">Behind The Numbers.</a></em></p>
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</div></div></div>Mon, 14 Aug 2017 13:25:54 +0000Behind The Numbers134461 at http://rabble.cahttp://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/behind-numbers/2017/08/heres-how-trudeau-government-can-make-2018-budget-feminist-one#comments